Newark's Yorke Drive residents raise concern over decline of estate while they wait for regeneration project to start

Residents have raised concern over the decline of their estate while they wait for a regeneration project to start.

The residents of Yorke Drive, Newark, say they were expecting work to begin next month.

In the meantime, houses bought by the council ready for demolition have been boarded up and the gardens become overgrown.

Their occupiers have been relocated, leading to accusations that perfectly good homes may stand empty for lengthy periods amid a national housing crisis.

Newark and Sherwood District Council has admitted there had been a delay and said residents would be made aware of the new timetable as soon as it was known.

“We were very happy with what we were being told until the beginning of the year. There were regular updates and newsletters,” said Bridge Ward town councillor Gill Dawn, who lives on the estate, which is classed as being deprived.

“Then everything stopped. It was suggested things would be starting next month. Quite obviously nothing in preparation has happened. We are not getting anything other than vague answers.

“It feels like ‘it’s only Yorke Drive so why does it matter’. We’ve felt like that before, but were reassured. Now it hangs in the balance again along with our futures.

“The estate is going to the dogs around us.”

Residents from the area have worked closely with the council to devise a masterplan, which received outline planning permission last year.

It will provide 320 new, mixed tenure homes in the Yorke Drive area. There will also be a new sports pavilion and playing fields, new access road off Lincoln Road, and improvements to the road network and environment to help make it a safer and better place to live.

As part of the agreed plans, and following extensive consultation with the community, 130 existing council-owned homes are due to be demolished with residents provided with a generous package of financial compensation and practical support to help them move.

The council has said in the past that the delivery of the Yorke Drive regeneration was a key priority.

A partner developer to deliver the scheme was appointed in May.

The council said in May that it was working towards the point that all parties would sign contracts by the autumn and it was progressing its government funding application to help deliver the Yorke Drive scheme.

But a decision by Homes England to walk away from the scheme financially left the council having to foot the bill.

Mrs Dawn said she understood the proposed groundworks had unearthed serious issues and the proximity of a factory to the Lincoln Playing Field where some new houses were to be built and odour and noise had not been taken into account.

She calculated the council must have spent £1m in buying up houses that would be demolished ahead of the rebuild while also providing relocation packages and paying householders’ legal fees.

Fellow town councillor Irene Brown, who also lives on the estate, said: “The estate is going to seed around us.

“I have been here for 55 years and it has been a good place to live. It’s had its problems and we’ve had to fight for what we have.

“These residents want to stay together. We are a community. ‘People come first’ it says on the council’s letterhead, it is time to prove it.”

District council leader David Lloyd said: “We remain committed to supporting the community at Yorke Drive and district council officers are continuing to work through the regeneration scheme with the developer.

“The district council’s response to the pandemic, coupled with the complexity of this project and site investigations, has caused some unavoidable delays.

“We understand and share the frustration of residents at any delay and regret that these have arisen. However, as this is an important project for the community, and we have only one shot at it, it is vital to get it right.

“As soon as we have revised time frames, Yorke Drive residents will be the first to know.

“I hope residents and tenants understand that our communication over the past few months has focused on the pandemic and I’m pleased that we will be able to reconvene the resident panel’s face-to-face meetings now that lockdown restrictions have eased.

“I understand that some Yorke Drive tenants have received letters from us in relation to the upkeep of their gardens. All those who have tenancies with the district council are required to upkeep their gardens to a certain standard. This requirement has not changed.”